The Hidden River
This item is only available for Canadian orders.Catalogue Number: F3M020
Producer: LES FILMS DU 3 MARS
Producers: Lesage, Jean-François
Directors: Lesage, Jean-François
Producing Agencies: Les Films de l'Autre
Subject: Arts, Canadian Social Issues, Documentary, Guidance, Social Issues, Social Sciences, Tech/Voc
Language: English
Grade Level: Post Secondary, Adult
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 2017
Running Time: 75:07
In the heart of a deep forest runs a river. On its banks, men and women sit and talk, opening up to each other. In this remote setting conducive to reflection, they wonder what it takes to attain inner peace, debate the wisdom of passing something on to future generations and realize that, in love, the perfect ‘soulmate’ is a near-impossible ideal. The sun sets behind the mountains and the swimmers bitterly acknowledge the failure of certain dreams, but still find meaning in contemplating nature, the stars and the moon.
Director Jean-François Lesage calls this work a creative documentary, "where imagination infuses the starkness of reality with something extra".
Film is narrated in French with English subtitles.
RIDM - Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature, 2017
The shoot was unlike any other. I spent 40 days in the deep woods alongside a wild river with my sound recordist, Marie-Andrée Cormier (from New Richmond in the Gaspé), filming conversations in the fading daylight. The site, bewitchingly beautiful, was an invitation to contemplation and soul-searching but a bit of a challenge to access with film equipment. Getting to location entailed a perilous trek along a steep and muddy path.
I found some of my subjects right by the river; but given the site’s seclusion, the rest had to be invited. All were either locals or passing tourists. Over the summer, we managed to shoot some 40 encounters involving roughly 100 people. In terms of their ages, our subjects ranged from five-year-olds to centenarians. - Jean-François Lesage